Powder people...question about fluid bed

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dustin Chaplin on March 25, 2011 at 9:14am

Look up "Wired2Fish" on youtube. They have a series on pouring, painting, and curing. Very helpfull

Permalink Reply by Richard Shaff on March 25, 2011 at 4:03pm

Information on fluidized beds for powder painting

 

First and most important is the air pump, I have built a couple of these now and what I have found that works best is an air pump that has dual outflow ports and has a single airflow control. This will allow you to vary the amount of air based on the color of powder, brand of powder, size and amount of glitter etc. For example it takes a higher volume of air and more filter material to properly boil the black paint with med to heavy blue flake. I also put an air flow control inline on each of the outflow tubes so I can fine tune each of my two fluid beds so I can have the higher flow for black with blue flake and less flow for brown with fine chartreus flake. If I am only using one bed then I can shut the other one off.

I utilized two inch PVC female couple for the base and have probably 15,  2” PVC male couplers (this is the cup that holds the powder) that I keep my powder mixes in. When not in use they are removed covered with foil and are labeled. The extra cups cost around a $1 so it is cheap and saves mixing and cleaning time as well as once you get the right color to flake ratio provides consistency.

As far as the painting process goes here is what I have found best:

I go to Harbor Freight and buy there $1 wide nose mini pliers, they have a gripping surface of about ¼ inch wide. I have a bottle torch that is on low and then grip the jig by the eye, making sure it covers the eye so no paint gets in the eye. Some paint may stick to the outside of the eye but not to worry. I run the lead of the jig through the torch flame once or twice quickly on the top and bottom of the jig head and the dip in the powder quickly. I remove from the powder give it a good tap on the side of the powder bed to knock of any excess and hang it on a rack. Continue to complete all jigs and then place the rack in an oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. I use a toaster oven that has a timer so I can turn the heat on and set the time and walk away. Come back in thirty minutes and admire your handy work.

 

Richard

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page